Rise of The Guardians 2: Just Like Fire

Chapter 8: Aria

I stepped out of the pillar of fire, dragging the other two out behind me.

I had braced myself for the sudden onset nausea that came with travelling so far, but Tooth dropped to the ground, retching.

North, with at least some state of mind, shoved me into a tree, breathing hard.

"We really have to stop meeting like this North." I quipped.

He growled, so I warmed my body temperature, pulling energy from the trees, making him shout and back off.

Tooth, mostly recovered, staggered to her feet and tried to punch me. I raised my left arm and she hit that instead, cursing from the heat and impact.

Sparks began floating off my body, drifting in the breeze above my head. Relief coursed through me as the heat and humidity removed the cold from my system, making me warm again, and causing the sparks.

Tooth's jaw gaped, and I realised how I must look to them. Royally pissed off and sparking like a firecracker.

"Let me get one thing straight. Nobody attacks me in my own home, nobody insults me, and we'll get along just fine. I didn't bring you here to kill you, no matter what you may think. We have bigger issues than rude ass guardians. "

I turned away, starting down the track as the last of my sparks flickered away. "Are you coming?"

I heard the steady thump of heavy boots and the slight flutter of wings behind me, so I knew they were following, muttering to each other.

I rolled my eyes and concentrated on the rocky track, pulling down a fire-flower and twirling the long stem between my fingers, causing the fire along the edges to rise in the motion, spinning like a miniature tornado. Despite my annoyance and the slight twinge in my ribs from the tree, I couldn't help but smile.

TEN MINUTES LATER

The air had cooled down as we descended further into the valley, the animals slowly becoming silent. The mountains rose higher around us, fossilised teeth snapping at the sky, their jagged, broken edges hiding the subterranean mid- afternoon sun from view.

The destination came into sight; where the two mountain ranges of my realm met in a tight V. the trees were scarce here; instead, grass rolled down the slope, always short from some magic. A lone tree stood there, a weeping willow with leaves of total fire, smokeless like the rest of the realm. A boulder stood there as well, adding even more camouflage to the entrance of the caves.

"That's it?" Tooth complained. "A tree, a rock, and mountains? What the hell?"

I rolled my eyes again, for what must have been the tenth time in the last hour. Not deigning her complaints with an answer, I kept walking, parting the fronds of the willow with my left hand, revealing the entrance to the caves.

"Oh." She said, hopefully very embarrassed.

I walked in, lighting the torches with a wave of my hand, drawing power from the underground lava pools beneath my feet. As I stood in the tunnel waiting for the Guardians to enter, I traced my hand over a design flawlessly cut into the smooth rock. Two perfect concentric circles around a simple flame. I smiled fondly at the memory of me making the carving.

It was the day after I had died, and woken up in the house, confused and alone. The Mother had appeared to me, had explained everything. Then she led me here, and told me to carve something into the wall. I had been so confused; wasn't that desecration? And even if it wasn't, what should I use?

She had laughed, a sound like a bell.

It took me an entire day, but I did it, using incredibly intense heat, like a blowtorch.

"Well?" North stood in the opening, seemingly the same size as the boulder beside him.

I nodded once, turned, and strode off down the tunnel.

It was a short walk, less than 500 metres, but Tooth complained the entire way. It's too dark, it's damp, how much longer, I'm claustrophobic... Blah, Blah, Blah.

I finally had enough, and snapped at her. "Would you shut up? You're not a baby! And anyway, we're here." We had reached a dead end, and she snorted, turning to walk back up the tunnel.

"Bitch."

I crouched down, ignoring her, and placed my finger between two tiny pebbles against the wall, pulling the lava beneath us until it rose to meet my fingertip. I slowly stood, tracing my finger up the wall, the lava following. At about chest height, I jerked my finger away, feeling the lava flow into an impression in the wall.

The lava hissed and seethed, settling into the rock like a spider in its web.

The back wall of the tunnel, seamlessly fitting into the rest of the rock, rose slowly into the mountain above our heads, merging perfectly with the roofline of the tunnel.